Hitting Home (documentary series)

Hitting Home is a Walkley and AACTA winning television documentary series of two episodes, broadcast on ABC in 2015. Presenter Sarah Ferguson reported on domestic violence in Australia.

With more than two years of research, journalist Sarah Ferguson spent six months reporting on domestic violence in Australia. She obtained unprecedented access to courts and safe rooms, domestic abuse programs in prison, forensic doctors and specialised police units and also moved into a womens refuge.

To better understand the statistics of domestic violence, the producers of Hitting Home spent nearly two years negotiating access to specialised police domestic violence units, domestic violence courts and secured unprecedented access to new court safe-rooms for victims, women's refuges, a unique prison rehabilitation program and specialist forensic doctors. During pre-production, the producers worked alongside Corrective Services NSW, The NSW Justice Department, The NSW Police, Domestic Violence NSW, the NSW Coroner and many other agencies and peak bodies to ensure the safety of the participants. A comprehensive Duty of Care Statement was conceived, with the full support of all agencies.

In June 2015, production on Hitting Home began in the South Coast Correctional Centre (Nowra) on day 1 of a 10 week rehabilitation program aimed at preventing violent men from reoffending. After a very long process of negotiation and building trust, Ferguson and the producers convinced two of the inmates to appear on camera, fully identified. But before either inmate could appear on camera, the producers had to identify and seek permission from their respective victims. Both women agreed to tell their side of the story. Their interviews and police footage captured in the aftermath of the attack were incorporated into the series.

As part of the production of Hitting Home, Ferguson moved into a refuge in western Sydney. It was the first time in Australia a television crew was granted such access.

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